


Hush (I Know They Said The End Is Near)

by RobinsonsWereHere



Series: Plant a Little Happiness (Let The Roots Run Deep) [9]
Category: Psych (TV 2006)
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Burns, Explosions, F/M, Family Feels, Fire, Found Family, Future Fic, Hospitals, Kid Fic, Kidnapping, Misunderstandings, No one is coping, Whump, emotional breakdowns, extended hospital stays, i'm gonna stop rambling now, it's a rough time for everyone, kid fic with FEELS, the girls are so badass, we stan Jules and Selene
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:21:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26221840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinsonsWereHere/pseuds/RobinsonsWereHere
Summary: When Shawn and Gus go missing, Juliet and Selene both work to find them, rules be damned. But it turns out the rescue was the easy part.Juggling kids, jobs, hospital visits, and suffocating worries, The Spencer-O'Hara and Guster families struggle through the newt few weeks with nothing to hold onto but each other.
Relationships: Burton "Gus" Guster & Original Child Character(s), Burton "Gus" Guster & Shawn Spencer, Burton "Gus" Guster/Selene, Carlton Lassiter & Juliet O'Hara, Juliet O'Hara & Karen Vick, Juliet O'Hara & Maryanne O'Hara, Juliet O'Hara & Original Child Character(s), Juliet O'Hara & Selene, Juliet O'Hara/Shawn Spencer, Selene & Original Child Characters(s), Shawn Spencer & Original Child Character(s)
Series: Plant a Little Happiness (Let The Roots Run Deep) [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941595
Comments: 48
Kudos: 26
Collections: 4 Psychos Do BTHB, Bad Things Happen Bingo





	1. Prologue

She’d seen him so soon before. Lunch that day. He’d kissed her cheek and told her he had to run, to get the twins from preschool.

An hour later, she was crossing ‘i’s and dotting ‘t’s when the phone rang.

“Detective O’Hara.” At that point, she’d only been half-listening.

_”Mrs. O’Hara, this is the supervisor from Little Learners, your children weren’t picked up at dismissal this afternoon.”_

It hadn’t made sense to her, at first. “My husband left to pick them up over an hour ago.”

_”Well, he’s not here yet, and we’re ready to send our teachers home.”_

Juliet remembers slowly being pulled from work mode by a much more concerning thought: if Shawn wasn’t there, where was he? Even when he got wrapped up in something, he always let her know. There were few things Shawn Spencer-O’Hara could reliably be counted on to do, but keeping up with their kids was one of them.

“I’m so sorry,” she remembers saying, mostly on autopilot. “I’ll be right there.”

\---

When it had happened, he hadn’t even been able to make the connection. He and Gus were headed for the daycare, headed to do Dad Things, not Work Things. He wasn’t thinking about their sketchy case, with the man whose younger brother had taken a new job and cut off contact. Not even when the huge, probably armored truck cut them off.

He wasn’t thinking about the case after that, either. By then his head hurt too much, and being bound, gagged, and shoved into the back of the truck only added to his discomfort. The only thing he remembers thinking, in that blurry haze of not-quite-consciousness, was that he was glad this had happened _before_ they’d picked up the twins.

\---

For days afterward, all she can think about is how long she went about her day like everything was normal, like her husband wasn’t in trouble, wasn’t so dangerously close to death. How long she went without knowing.

Selene had never thought of herself as uninvolved in her husband’s work; she was far too nosy for that. But there was something chilling about not knowing that anything was amiss until Juliet dropped three kids on her doorstep with a rushed apology and a vague question as to Shawn and Gus’ whereabouts.

Selene had admitted she hadn’t seen them.

Juliet had told her there was most likely nothing to worry about.

Juliet had left to track down their husbands.

Selene had called the most hardcore babysitter she knew (a high school senior, trained in three martial arts, with a dry sense of humor and plenty of new words to teach the kids), left her with all five children, and driven off after Juliet.

\---

He hadn’t even been surprised to wake up in a musty, abandoned warehouse.

That probably said something about his friendship with Shawn.

No, Gus had been more annoyed by the turn of events. He’d been on a good streak; he hadn’t been kidnapped since before Leah started school, and his little girl was now in second grade. A good streak, broken.

Even the fear hadn’t come until later. It had taken a while for everything to sink in, for him to stop expecting the cops to come bursting in at any moment.

But as the clock ticked onwards, as the pain in his chest made it harder and harder to breathe, as Shawn, bound right next to him, didn’t wake up…

Gus did eventually start to worry.


	2. Too Scared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juliet and Selene begin the desperate hunt for their husbands, but they have know way of knowing just how little time they have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is legitimately what got me out of bed this morning. It's cold and rainy here and I have school now. bleh.

_I don’t know where he is._

Juliet takes a deep breath. She needs to calm down, to focus, to go about this like the head detective that she is. But she’s finding it hard to do that, because--

_I don’t know where he is. Where was he? What was he doing? What was he after?_

“Juliet!”

She jumps a mile in the air as the door to her office bangs open with enough force to break non-bulletproof glass. “Selene! What are you doing here?”

Selene folds her arms, her stance one of determination. “You think Shawn and Gus are in trouble.”

Juliet doesn’t have the brain power to lie right now. “I… they are, yes.”

“So you found something!” Selene invades Juliet’s personal space without thinking twice, looking over her shoulder at the files on her desk and the photos on her phone.

“I’m looking into it,” Juliet mutters. “I’ll find something. I’ll find _them.”_

_I have to._

“I’ll help you.”

Juliet shakes her head. “You’re a civilian, Selene.”

“So are Shawn and Gus!”

“Well, yes and no, they’re on the department payroll, but technically not for this case…” Juliet takes a deep breath, combing her mind for a way to make her friend leave. “Wait, who’s with the kids?”

Selene waves a dismissive hand. “My babysitter knows karate.”

Groaning, Juliet paces around her desk, all but flopping into her chair. “Selene, look, believe me when I say _I know_ how you’re feeling right now. But the best thing-- the fastest way for us to find them is if you stay out of the way-- stay with the kids-- and let the police do their jobs.”

Selene once again comes closer. “Alright, maybe I’d say that if you were, I don’t know, raiding a hostage situation or something. _That_ would be out of my depth. But I’m around Shawn and Gus as much as you are, Juliet. Right now, we can work together. Come on, think about it. What have they told us in the past week? What cases have they tried to convince you to let them on? What weird blueprints have they come down to my office to look through.”

Juliet doesn’t have any leads… yet. She has evidence, maybe even clues, but she doesn’t have the time or focus to pore over them and turn them into leads. But if Selene really does remember where Shawn and Gus have been trying to sneak into....

She grits her teeth. “Fine. Fine. But you listen to me, okay? This is already a sticky situation, and I could lose my job for involving a civilian.”

Selene has the audacity to snort. “Please, It’s Karen. She’d just roll her eyes and shake her head like you’d done something mildly inconvenient.”

Juliet catches herself glancing out the office window. “Don’t let her hear you say that… she’d fire me just to make a point.”

It’s a mark of how worried they both are that no laughter follows her quiet quip.

\---

For all her blustering to Juliet, Selene is less confident than she lets on. Yes, she remembers the blueprints Shawn and Gus had wanted-- warehouses slated for demolition, to be followed by an eco-housing project she’s actually really excited about. But she’d wanted nothing to do with her husband’s investigation, at least at first. She’d tried to push the sobering image of him and Shawn sneaking through creepy, even dangerous warehouses from her mind.  
Now, from what she’s managed to indirectly learn from Juliet, there’s a very good chance Gus is helplessly trapped in one of those very warehouses.

\---

Gus closes his eyes, trying to decide if the ropes against his wrists are worse than the possibility of tipping his chair over and knocking himself unconscious. On his legs, his skin is protected by his sensible khakis, but ever since his more fashion-forward wife had told him how good he looked with his sleeves rolled up, he’d started cuffing his button-downs just underneath his elbows.

Thinking of Selene causes a pang in his chest unrelated to his probably-broken ribs. He can just see her now… is it late enough that she’d be home with the kids? Normally it takes both of them to get Jaden and Leah to bed… is Selene pissed that he’s not home to help? Or is she worried about where he is, what’s happened to him? Surely he and Shawn have been missed by now…

As if he’d been awoken by Gus just thinking of him, Shawn groans. Gus whirls around to look at him, as best he can, nearly tipping over his rickety chair. “Shawn!”

“Don’t yell, buddy, my head hurts…” Shawn groans.

That figures; Gus had gone down after being kicked in the stomach and ribs, as well as some other unfortunate places, but he’d seen one of the men slam Shawn’s head against the trailer hitch on the truck. “Sorry,” he says. “You’ve just… been out for a while. Had me worried.”

Shawn chuckles, damn him. “Don’t worry about me, Gus. We all know I have a thick skull.”

“Maybe you’re getting old,” Gus says, trying to tease. “I never used to wake up before you.”

Even at a time like this, Shawn’s laughter is comforting.

\---

Shawn’s abilities aren’t something that can be easily taken away. He has to struggle when he wants to stop focusing, and even then, it normally takes Juliet’s hands in his hair or earbuds with 80s rock playing too loud to give him a bit of peace.

But the good news now is, it takes a _lot_ to take away his memory, his observational skills. So even with his head throbbing and his arm going numb and his mouth so dry he wonders how long he’s been stuck here, he can’t turn off his… _gift._

At first, he combs his memory for case details, anything that might help him figure out why they’re here, who had taken them. But there are so many variables there, and as convinced as he is that they’re utterly alone in the… warehouse? Shawn decides to focus on the present.

It isn’t much of a gift.

The warehouse-- he’s been in enough of them to know-- is filthy, clearly old. That makes it easy for him to identify where people have been recently, what’s been disturbed… and other than the area around him and Gus, all he sees is…

Wires.

Running along the edges of the room, from the floor up the corners and into the shadowy ceiling, where he’s just able to make out the shape of…

Well, he can’t see much, but based on context clues, whatever it is is probably explosive.

And the wires go out the door, too.

He and Gus are alone and trapped in a place set to blow at any moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> get used to the cliffhangers ;)


	3. Thinking I Had You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Selene and Juliet find Shawn and Gus. It's time for a rescue mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning everyone, and welcome back to another chapter of me hurting the characters I love the most!! Enjoy!

Selene has assisted Shawn and Gus on cases before. She’s followed Juliet to countless crime scenes. But this feels like the first time she has really been in the thick of an investigation. Between her blueprints and the notes Juliet had found in the psychphrancisco office, they have narrowed it down to which building Shawn and Gus are most likely in. The place is now a crime scene, police swarming, ready to go in, and she hates the feeling of it.

Forget her veins, adrenaline is rushing through the _atmosphere._ She would never have expected an operation like this to be quiet, but there’s only a low thrum of noise as cops in dark, bulletproof uniforms prepare to enter. Selene looks up at the dark, empty, foreboding warehouse and shivers.

Her husband is in there.

“Selene.”

Selene turns to see Juliet looking at her like she’s been trying to get her attention for several moments. She doesn’t know when her friend had donned a bulletproof vest, but she’s wearing one now, and her hair is down her back in a quick braid. It seems odd to see Juliet with her hair up. Selene doesn’t know why she’s fixating on that now, but it’s the only thing she can think of.

“Selene,” Juliet says again.

She shakes her head to snap herself out of it. “What?”

“You have to stay here now.” Juliet lays a hand on her shoulder and guides her gently to the outside of the wooden police barricade. “I promise, I will get Shawn and Gus out of there. I’ll go in, find them, and bring them back, no matter what. I’ll have a dozen other people to take care of any criminals.”

Selene only nods meekly; she’s not feeling very pushy right now.

Juliet gives her one last look, squeezing her shoulder. “Shawn and Gus are going to be fine.”

Before she’s even finished her sentence, the entire building goes up in flames.

\---

The ringing in her ears hasn’t even stopped by the time Juliet makes it to the heart of the scene. They’re not in the building yet, of course not, but even feeling the heat of the bright fire, even seeing the rubble in front of her, Juliet feels drawn in.

Her husband is in there.

As she begins to hear a little better, she catches Karen’s voice, sees her boss speaking into a radio. “Tell fire and rescue we don’t know how many could be in there, but there are at least two of our own.”

“Tell them three,” Juliet corrects. She breezes past the chief, heading for a patch of darkness that isn’t actively flaming. It’ll be her way in.

“Absolutely not, O’Hara.”

Juliet ignores her until she feels the hand on her wrist, the cold contrasting with the heated air around them.

“Juliet,” Karen says firmly, “you know the rules. We don’t go in until Fire & Rescue has cleared the place.”

With the apathy spreading through her body, Juliet is surprised to hear her voice break. “That could be too late.”

“Fire and _Rescue,_ Juliet. Shawn and Gus will be fine.”

Juliet wonders if Karen believes that or is just trying to calm her down. She pulls her arm free from her boss’ grip. “I’ll go with them.”

Without waiting for a response, she strides toward the bright red trucks pulling into the scene. This time, Karen doesn’t follow her, doesn’t try to restrain her. She doesn’t need to.

“What will happen to your kids if that building comes down completely with both you and Shawn inside?”

\---

Karen paces the crime scene, her eyes scanning the situation as it unfolds. The building is being hosed down, but though fire & rescue had gone in a good fifteen minutes ago, no one has come out yet.

Usually, for something like this, her head detective would be right on her heels, updating her faster than a sports commentator, just waiting for an order that would send her into action. But now Juliet is standing near the edge of the scene, leaning against the blue police barricade. Next to her, but on the other side of the blockade, is Selene Guster. The two women wear matching expressions of apprehension and fear.

The wail of sirens announces the arrival of three ambulances, but there’s nothing for them yet. Karen waves a few uniforms over to let them through the barricade and prep them to head in.

There’s nothing to do but wait, and that is always the worst part. She can keep moving, can issue orders and make sure her teams are ready for when the moment comes, but looking at the flames licking the sky, that won’t be for a while yet.

Right now, there’s nothing to do but wait.

\---

Spencer and Guster are rescued after almost half an hour of searching.

It seems like a short amount of time, but in a fire like that…

Even Karen winces, albeit inwardly, when she sees the men carried out on stretchers. They’re very near unrecognizable, and it doesn’t look like burns are the only damage.

Medical personnel pile into the ambulance with the rescued men. Juliet and Selene stand as close as they can get, but it’s clear the vehicle is full.

Juliet looks up at Karen. Her skin is ashen, and while Selene’s complexion means the same signs aren’t visible on her face, her eyes are wide and dismayed. “Chief--”

“Go, O’Hara.” Karen waves a hand. “Honestly, there probably won’t be anything to do here for another few hours. Go.”

WIth barely a nod, her head detective rushes off. 

The ambulance screams out into the road, followed by Juliet’s green bug. More firemen dive into the blaze. The crime scene is alive with activity, people rippling like the flames in front of them. But Karen’s mind is far away, even as she issues orders.

She needs Shawn and Gus to be alright. And she’s not even the one who needs it the most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: kids...


	4. When I Feel Like An Open Wound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juliet and Selene have a lot of waiting up to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead!! Whumptober and real life took all my energy last month, but I'm gonna update stuff again now! I'm not doing nanowrimo this year, phew!

Over the years, Juliet has grown to hate the ER. It never means anything good. Even the scent of hospitals now sends a trickle of dread down her spine, which had been a bit of an impediment to calming down during her labors.

Although she’d felt a sick pull to stay in the waiting room, the purgatory of plastic chairs, when Karen had shown up to send her home, she had gone. The car ride with Selene was one of sickened, shocked silence, but neither woman had broken,

Stepping through the door into the Gusters’ warm living room, immediately met by a flood of tired children, that’s about to change.

“Mama!” Ella is the first to reach Juliet, reaching to be lifted into her arms. Juliet picks her up and does the same for Alex, holding one twin in each arm. Delilah, already only six inches shorter than her mother, leans into her chest for a warm hug. Next to them, Selene is hugging and kissing Jaden and Leah, holding them both close.

Delilah asks first. “Where’s Daddy?”

Juliet takes a moment to pull herself together; she owes it to her children to give them as calm an answer as she can. She turns to look at Selene, who shrugs. She has no idea what to say, either.

They were never supposed to have to explain anything like this.

“Daddy got hurt at work,” she says quietly. “That’s why he didn’t pick you up from school. He and Uncle Gus were working, and some criminals caught them.”

Delilah’s eyebrows scrunch together. “Like the Empire caught Leia?”

“Sort of.” Juliet strokes the eight-year-old’s hair, looking up and blinking as she tries not to cry.

“But Auntie Jules found them,” Selene says, picking up where she left off, “and all your dads are gonna be just fine. They’re at the hospital so the doctors can fix them up.”

Alex raises his head from Juliet’s shoulder, blinking sleepily. “Whassa hossittal?”

“Hospital,” Juliet repeats, enunciating the word. “It’s like a doctor’s office but more grown-up. You can stay the night so the doctors can keep taking care of you.”

“We went when you broke your arm last year, remember?” Delilah adds.

Alex pouts. “That made my arm hurt. And I didn’t like the cast.” He looks back at Juliet. “Does Daddy hafta get an itchy cast?”

“He might.” Juliet tries not to think about the extent of her husband’s injuries, instead giving Alex a serious look. “If he does, you’ll have to help him learn what to do while he has it, because you’ve had it most recently. Think you can be a good helper?”

As she’d hoped, her little boy brightens. “Yeah!”

Although her three seem satisfied with what she’s told them, the Gusters are not. Jaden steps away slightly, looking more worried than a nine-year-old should be. “When do we get to see Dad and Uncle Shawn?”

“I don’t know, baby.” Selene sighs, reaching out to squeeze her son’s hand. “Auntie Jules and I will stay up tonight so we know when the hospital calls. Once the doctors say it’s okay, we’ll bring you all to see them.”

Juliet presses her lips together, giving Selene a warning glance. She’s not sure if her friend doesn’t know what to expect or has forgotten that Juliet has younger children, but there’s a good chance Shawn and Gus won’t be in any shape to see the kids even once they can have visitors. The fire alone might’ve done enough damage to give their children nightmares, and who knows what else they’ve been through…

As her worries threaten to suffocate her, she shakes herself. She can’t do this right now, can’t sink into her anxiety and fear just yet. Her kids are depending on her.

“It’s getting late, guys,” she says, shifting the twins in her arms. “I think it’s time for bed.”

Alex is already dozing on her shoulder. Ella looks close to nodding off as well. Only Delilah protests. “I’m not tired!”

“Well, it’s a school night,” Juliet reminds her, She herself feels like she’s close to succumbing to exhaustion. She nudges her daughter with her elbow, as none of her hands are free. “C’mon. Bedtime.”  
Delilah hugs Jaden and Leah, and then Selene, and then she leads them down the stairs and across the few feet to their own front door. But as they climb their own stairs, Juliet looks back and shares a knowing look with Selene.

She’s not gonna get to sleep anytime soon.

\---

Selene stares out the window of her son’s third-floor bedroom, out at the glimmering city and the dark sky above it. Jaden had asked them to remove his curtains a year or so ago, so he could see the stars. Of course, there are barely any visible, with the light, but he seems satisfied.

Once upon a time, she’d kept her curtains open at night, too. She had been small and afraid of the dark, the quiet, the stillness. She’s always been a city girl, and it hadn’t felt natural, how all signs of life seemed to disappear.

That fear had faded long ago, but tonight, it returns. Looking out the window, the city lights blur and morph into flames, licking at the sky while she watches with her heart in her throat, more afraid than she’s ever been.

Even with the heat of the fire, the fear and shock had made her feel like she was freezing to the bone. She still doesn’t feel warm.

Selene glances once more at Jaden’s sleeping form, then heads down the stairs. She pauses at one of two doors on the second floor, peaking in to check on Leah, also asleep. Finally, she descends to the first floor, and then out the back door and into Juliet’s adjoining townhouse.

Truthfully, leaving her kids doesn’t help the pit in her stomach. But she’s right next door, and Juliet has younger kids, more likely to wake up with nightmares or come searching for a glass of water.

Although, Selene reflects, they all might have nightmares tonight.

If they even sleep.

She finds Juliet in her living room, two small lamps turned on and her friend in comfy clothes, including what looks like Shawn’s shirt. It takes her a minute to identify the metallic rattling noise, but when she rounds the corner of the couch, she sees that Juliet is taking apart her gun. It strikes her as some sort of ritual, too intimate a moment to intrude on. It’s not until the gun is back together again that Selene speaks.

“So… what now?” She sighs. “I guess you’re probably better at this than I am.”

Juliet shakes her head. “It doesn’t get any easier.” Selene hadn’t noticed she was crying, but her voice is thick with tears.  
Wincing, Selene realizes how that could’ve been taken. There’s no bonus to having your husband in danger more often. “I didn’t mean--”

“No, it’s okay,” Juliet interrupts, swiping at her eyes. “I know what you meant. But I… I don’t know what to do either.”

Selene pulls out her phone, which is heart-wrenchingly silent. Juliet’s own samsung sits on the arm of the couch next to her, also dark. “I guess all we can do is wait.”

Juliet nods. “Yeah,” she agrees, her voice rough. “I guess there’s no point trying to sleep.”

Shaking her head, Selene lets herself melt into the couch cushions. Despair and dread threaten to swallow her as she stares up at the ceiling. Her voice shakes when she speaks. 

“It’s gonna be a long night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our first scene with the kiddos ;) what did you think?


End file.
